For individuals in Portland, Oregon, seeking effective weight loss solutions, a variety of programs and approaches are available. These range from medically supervised programs to lifestyle interventions, catering to diverse needs and preferences. When diet and exercise aren't enough, bariatric surgery and medical weight loss medication can provide lasting appetite reduction that helps people lose weight for good.
Comprehensive Medical Weight Loss Programs
Several clinics in Portland offer medically supervised weight loss programs. These programs provide a structured and supportive environment for individuals looking to achieve significant and sustainable weight loss.
Merritt Health and Wellness (MHW)
MHW is an independent wellness clinic located in Portland, Oregon, with two locations in Northeast and Southeast Portland. Owned by Seth Merritt, a licensed and certified Family Nurse Practitioner, MHW specializes in medical weight management, obesity medicine, disease reversal, functional medicine, and primary care.
Key Features of MHW's Weight Loss Program:
- Science-Based, Holistic Approach: MHW's program is grounded in a science-based, holistic approach to health and wellness, focusing on individual needs rather than "quick fixes" or "one size fits all" solutions.
- Individualized Programs: Recognizing that each person has unique needs and conditions, MHW offers flexible programs designed to be adapted to the individual.
- One-on-One Consultations: Throughout the program, participants meet one-on-one with a medical specialist who guides them toward success.
- Comprehensive Assessment: The program includes rigorous laboratory testing to assess heart, liver, and kidney function, as well as cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Thyroid and other hormones, body fat percentage, lean muscle mass, hydration, and metabolic rate are also evaluated.
- Insurance Coverage: MHW bills insurance for its services, making the program more accessible to patients.
- Focus on Health: MHW prioritizes overall health and individual needs, avoiding fake meals, liquid diets, supplement sales, or starvation menus.
- Personal Training: Choose our personal trainer who can help with a variety of movements. Including, high to low impact movement, step, resistance training, and circuit training.
- Address Underlying Issues: Focus on attaining vibrant, whole-body health, then excess pounds just melt away with no particular effort. But if your body is burdened with imbalances (hormonal or digestive or neurotransmitter), or if your stress load, toxic burden or overall inflammation is too high, then your body may protect itself by holding onto excess fat.
- Hormone Balance: Many hormones must be properly balanced in order for the body to maintain its own ideal weight. Many chemical messengers* must be properly balanced in order for the body to maintain its own ideal weight.
- Real Food Focus: Medical weight loss must teach people how to eat real food (not synthetic food-like substances) while honoring our genetic, evolutionary heritage (how did our hunter-gatherer ancestors eat?)
- Stress Reduction: Medical weight loss must reduce the killer load of stress that many people carry.
- Body Composition Monitoring: Clinical weight loss plans must offer dramatic weight loss while preserving muscle mass and melting fat - does your clinician measure your body fat percentage at every visit to ensure this?
- Long-term Success: Long-term success with weight management requires self-awareness, excellent nutrition, good metabolism, and refusal to revert to the unhealthy ways that led to overweight in the first place.
Aura Aesthetics
Aura Aesthetics offers a medical weight loss program in Portland that combines evidence-based medicine with concierge care. Their approach involves personalized prescription support, consultations with licensed providers, and ongoing medication monitoring to ensure safety and success.
Key Features of Aura Aesthetics' Weight Loss Program:
- GLP-1 Medications: The program utilizes prescription GLP-1 medications like Ozempic (semaglutide) and Zepbound (tirzepatide), available through trusted partners.
- Personalized Prescription Support: Aura Aesthetics prescribes the right GLP-1 medication based on individual history and goals.
- 1:1 Medication Management: Weekly virtual or in-person check-ins help track progress and adjust the customized plan.
- Unlimited Text Access: Patients have unlimited text access to their provider for real-time support.
- Nursing Staff Support: Aura Aesthetics nursing staff will review your medical history, weight loss goals, previous experience with weight loss, and current lifestyle.
- GLP-1 Injection Therapy: GLP-1 injection therapy is delivered weekly via a virtually painless injection.
- Customized Plan: We will also review a customized plan to ensure you have established health habits that will support your new weight loss accomplishment.
Other Medical Weight Loss Options
- Prescription Appetite Suppressants: Prescription Appetite Suppressants are NOT the only thing our providers offer but in some cases these tools can help.
- Medically Supervised Weight Loss: Medically supervised weight loss aids your weight-loss results via a multi-faceted program. This program is individualized to each patient’s health profile and goals.
- Individualized Counseling and Group Behavior Support: We have available both individualized counseling and group behavior support. All from experienced medical providers. Passionate and specially trained in helping you reclaim your health and vitality through medical weight loss.
Bariatric Surgery Programs
For individuals who have not achieved sustainable weight loss through diet, exercise, or medication, bariatric surgery may be an option.
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Legacy Health Bariatric Program
Legacy Health offers a comprehensive bariatric program in collaboration with Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). OHSU's bariatric providers perform surgeries at Legacy Health's campus.
Key Features of Legacy Health's Bariatric Program:
- Expert Care: Legacy Health works with patients to decide what type of weight-loss surgery is right for their individual needs.
- Accredited Program: The accredited bariatric surgery program offers life-changing surgery.
- Extensive Evaluation and Education: Weight-loss surgery begins with an extensive evaluation and education program. Virtual visits and online classes make this convenient for patients no matter where they’re located.
Lifestyle and Wellness Programs
In addition to medical and surgical interventions, several programs in Portland focus on lifestyle changes and overall wellness to support weight loss.
VA Portland Health Care System MOVE!® Program
The MOVE!® program is a national weight management program that helps Veterans lose weight, keep it off, and improve their health.
Key Features of the MOVE!® Program:
- Introductory Basics of Weight Management Class: One-time group class offered by video or telephone.
- Four-Month MOVE!® Program: Weekly group classes by telephone, video, or at a VA Clinic covering nutrition, physical activity, and behavior change for weight loss.
- Focus on Lifestyle Changes: The program targets lifestyle changes in behavior, nutrition, and physical activity.
The Portland Clinic Weight-Management Team
The Portland Clinic's weight-management team offers a comprehensive approach to weight loss, focusing on overall well-being.
Key Features of The Portland Clinic's Program:
- Comprehensive Assessment: The team supplements BMI with other measurements, such as waist circumference and body fat percentage, plus a comprehensive review of your medical history.
- Personalized Approach: The focus is on overall well-being, including feelings, body functionality, and relationship with food.
- Treating Underlying Medical Causes: The team addresses underlying medical conditions that may be contributing to weight gain.
- Personalized Nutrition Plans: The program includes personalized nutrition plans and exercise recommendations.
- Behavioral Changes: The team provides support for behavioral changes related to eating and exercise.
- Weight-Loss Medications: The program may include weight-loss medications.
Bridge City Family Medical Clinic
The team at Bridge City Family Medical Clinic uses a combination of treatments to help you lose weight. Your provider offers support and counseling throughout your weight loss program.
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Additional Considerations for Weight Loss
- Hormone Balance: Many hormones must be properly balanced in order for the body to maintain its own ideal weight.
- Medical Conditions: If you struggle to manage your weight, underlying medical conditions may be working against you. Low thyroid levels, sleep apnea, stress, insulin resistance, and many medications can increase weight or make it harder to lose.
- Benefits of Weight Loss: Losing 5-10% of your body weight can significantly improve conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Weight loss can help improve cardiovascular health by reducing blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and the risk of heart disease. Shedding excess pounds can alleviate joint pain, improve mobility, and decrease the risk of developing osteoarthritis.
- The role of insulin: Excess insulin instructs the body to lay down adipose (fat) tissue - and then insulin also prevents this lumpy stored fat from being burned for metabolic fuel (how unfair is that?) The SAD (Standard American Diet) is much too high in dietary sugars and starches, causing habitually high releases of insulin from the pancreas, which re-shapes bodies into the current alarming state of affairs: about two-thirds of Americans are currently overweight or obese.
- Cortisol and Stress: Excess cortisol generates a spare tire around the midsection and in prolonged cases it creates a fatty pad at the back of the neck as well.
- Leptin-Ghrelin Balance: Poor leptin-ghrelin balance leads to lack of satiety, that is, never receiving the bodily cue that it’s time to stop eating.
- Adipose Tissue: Adipose (fat) tissue is extremely hormonally active. Anyone who is 10 or more pounds medically overweight should view their fat deposits as another endocrine organ, a hormone-producing machine that tries to self-perpetuate.
- Neurotransmitters: Neurotransmitters are another form of messenger molecules, sometimes overlapping with hormones; together with cytokines, these three types of messengers carry information and instructions from one body tissue to another.
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